CYBERSPORTS AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HER COMPUTER VIRUS.

Byline: - Tom Hoffarth

At least there's one computer poll in which Anna Kournikova reigns No. 1. Again.

Lycos' year-end list of the most popular sports stars on the Net, based on requests made upon its search engine, has spit out the tennis maven's name for the second year in a row.

Lycos Sports, by the way, sponsors and maintains her official Web site (www.kournikova.com), which has her calendars, posters and workout video for sale. It also uses her in TV commercials for its service.

Kournikova currently sits No. 74 on the WTA Tour computer rankings for singles, and No. 24 for doubles.

The late Dale Earnhardt turned up second on the Lycos list. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant was sixth and, the editors at Lycos note, he had six times as many searches in 2001 as teammate Shaquille O'Neal.

They also point out that Arizona pitcher Randy Johnson came in at No. 24, but not so much for his Cy Young season and World Series heroics. It was because of people looking for video of his pitch that killed a bird in flight back in April.

--Next month, National University in La Jolla will offer an online bachelor of business administration degree with a concentration in sports management.

``The demand for sports-management professionals is expected to grow by more than 25 percent in the next 10 years,'' said Chris Ashcraft, a faculty member who helped develop the new program. ``This is a great opportunity for minor-league athletes who were drafted out of high school or junior college and never completed their degree. With a business background, they can take their sports experience to the next level.''

National University also will offer a certificate program in sports management online.

For more information, go to National University's Web site: www.nu.edu.